Former teacher indicted on federal child pornography charges

Monday

Apr 16, 2012 at 3:26 PM

A former Hendersonville teacher has been indicted by a federal grand jury on child pornography charges, according to court records.

By John HarbinTimes-News Staff Writer

A former Hendersonville teacher has been indicted by a federal grand jury on child pornography charges, according to court records.Deborah Lee Tipton, 45, of Hendersonville, was indicted on April 4 and charged with one count of sexual exploitation of children and two counts of possessing and disseminating child pornography.In the federal indictment, prosecutors allege that on Sept. 10, 2011, Tipton coerced a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing a visual depiction of such conduct and produced materials that had been mailed, shipped and transported in interstate and foreign commerce.For counts two and three of her charges, the indictment states that on the same date, Tipton sent these visual depictions using the Internet and she possessed one or more emails, computer hard drives and a video camera containing images of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct.In addition to her charges, the indictment says some of Tipton's personal belongings were confiscated by authorities.From her home at 162 Long John Drive, a flip video camera, a Dell HP Pavillion laptop and a Toshiba laptop had to be forfeited to the court, according to court records.Tipton is being held with out bond and was assigned a federal public defender when she appeared in court last week.In addition to Tipton’s recent federal charges, she was previously arrested by state authorities on Feb. 21 and charged with first-degree sexual exploitation of a minor after police say she videotaped an 11-year-old girl in the shower and sent the videos to the charter school's former principal Chadwick Jerry Hamby.Tipton was initially suspended and then fired from her position as a math and special education teacher. Tipton posted bond in March for her state charges, but was ordered to have no contact with her children. Hamby, 41, was arrested in February and arrest warrants stated he “asked for, received and viewed” two videos of the girl exposing her genitalia. The videos were sent to Hamby by Tipton, according to police.Hamby has not been charged federally as of Monday, according to court records. Hamby, who was athletic director and one of two assistant principals at Brevard High School, resigned in February. Tipton was initially suspended from her position as a math and special education teacher at The Mountain Community School. Mountain Community School Principal Denise Pesce said in March Tipton was fired Wednesday, Feb. 29.Tipton posted bond in March for her state charges, but was ordered to have no contact with her children. She is now back in jail after her federal charges were handed down.